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The WiiWare demo service arrives in Europe today, though a bit light on content compared to other regions. On the upside, both of the demos offered are for games that cost 1,500 Wii Points, which means you could save a pretty large chunk of change if you discover (somehow) that you don't like World of Goo.

In terms of stuff you pay for, Shootanto is going to be totally overshadowed by Pokemon Rumble. DSiWare has a decent selection of games, including something that looks kind of like Defend Your Castle, a few card games, and myNotebook.

• Pokemon Rumble (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,500 Wii Points)
• Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Army Defender (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• A Little Bit of ... All-Time Classics: Strategy Games (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• myNotebook: Blue (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Uno (DSiWare, 1-6 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Demos: Pokemon Rumble, World of Goo (free)

It's an unexpectedly packed week for Nintendo downloaders! On WiiWare, there's a game that should be wonderful and another that should be, uh, interesting. There's an arcade classic on Virtual Console, and DSiWare features the arrival of one of the weirdest game series to be announced at E3: a set of five games based on NHK mascot and generally adorable monster Domo-kun.

We never expected to see Grand Prix Games' WiiWare light gun game, Shootanto, leave Japan, and we certainly never expected it to be published by Hudson, a company with plenty of internally developed WiiWare games to release.

In case you're not familiar with the game (now being called Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem), a game we previously said "looks hilariously ill-conceived and poorly made, and is probably great fun to play and laugh at": it's a shooter about monkeys fighting giant plants and lizardmen. As your monkey progresses through the game, it evolves into a missing-link creature, a caveman, a knight, and finally into a modern soldier. All of whom shoot at lizardmen.

Hudson plans to release the game sometime this fall, and it could find an audience if the company markets it as a B-movie experience. Of course, since it's a WiiWare game, nobody's going to market it at all. If it does manage to become a success, it could lead to more localization of niche Japanese WiiWare games from Hudson. Like the Shootanto sequel!

In December, Shootanto hit Japan's WiiWare service; a shooter that pits a pair of monkeys against a plethora of prehistoric baddies armed with magical coconuts. Yes, that sentence just happened. Take it all in. Not content with releasing one insanely ridiculous title, developer Grand Prix is back with the upcoming WiiWare sequel, Shootanto: Miraihen (Shootanto: Future Chapter).

Where will the (almost guaranteed to be Japanese exclusive) WiiWare title be set? Will it be a horrific future or maybe a land where man battles beast? Not quite. Shootanto: Future Chapter brings the shooter into the World War II setting. Honestly, we're thankful. We were getting tired of those "monkey throwing magical coconut" titles. Time they focus on a setting that doesn't get a lot of video game love.

It's an extremely low-key week on the Japanese Virtual Console, with only two obscure-ish 8-bit titles available for download. Ninja-kun, the precursor to Ninja Jajamaru-kun, is kind of unique, in that it's a vertically-oriented action platformer. But a vertically-oriented action platformer without the complex level designs of something like Kid Icarus or Metroid just means a lot of jumping straight up. We think it's super-cute, though, and we'd enjoy the opportunity to buy it.

S.C.I.(Special Criminal Investigation) is the sequel to Chase H.Q. What's so special about the criminal investigation this time? You can shoot at your fleeing suspects.

• Ninja-kun: Majou no Bouken (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• S.C.I. (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

We can't help but be envious of Japanese Wii owners who are now able to download the single WiiWare title this week: Shootanto looks hilariously ill-conceived and poorly made, and is probably great fun to play and laugh at.

• Shootanto (1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)

Next week, the Japanese Wii Shop will get an infusion of bizarre light-gunnery, courtesy of Hajime no Ippo The Fighting DS developer Grand Prix Games. Shootanto puts one or two players in the roles of monkeys, equipped with some kind of energy projectiles. As you shoot giant prehistoric insects, snakes, bipedal dinosaurs, and other baffling, low-poly obstacles, your monkey will begin to evolve -- first into a sort of Australopithecine ape-thing, then a caveman, toward what looks like a modern soldier.

Normally, we'd complain about the crummy, low-budget graphics, but this is a game that will release at a six-dollar price point. For that much, we can relax our standards and have a laugh. We doubt this game will see release outside of Japan, which is kind of too bad. Check the link for a small gameplay video!

[Via GAME Watch]